


The Color of Your Soul is Purple

by ScatterPatter



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Alternate Universe- Reincarnation AU, Blood, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Knives, Michael and PG are twins, Nightmares, POV Michael, Suicide mention, listen mike and ennard arent meant to be romantic but the homoerotic subtext is VERY MUCH there, really nothing as of chapter 1 this is tame so far, scott makes bad puns, twin angst, twin fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-01-08 05:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21230576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScatterPatter/pseuds/ScatterPatter
Summary: "He always wanted to live forever, didn't he.Tell me, Michael.How well do you truly know your father?"FNaF AU centering around Michael Afton struggling under William's Legacy





	1. Rainy Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so a few forenotes before we get into this  
1- Michael Afton and Phone Guy(going by the name "Scott") are twin brothers  
2- This follows more of the books setting than the games, though will definitely feature a lot of game plots such as Sister Location!  
3- THIS IS AN AU and won't follow canon to either the books or games. I'd go into what makes it the au, but that'd spoil the surprise ;)  
4- I've never written a multi-chapter fic before, only one-shots, so I'm not used to slow pacing like this, so please be patient if it feels like this fic starts off slow, I promise it'll pick up in later chapters!

“How do you feel?”

“I… can’t feel my legs.”

“That’s normal, you’ll get that back shortly. Any other problems?”

“N… No. Not that I can detect, Sir…”

“Good, good. Any other questions before we proceed?”

…

“Very well, then we-”

“Why did you make me?”

…

“Sir?”

“End log. Turn the recorder off.”

“But S-”

* * *

It was still dark when he woke up. At first, he thought he might’ve woken up before he needed to, that the sun wasn’t up yet, and that he could go right back to sleep. He rolled over, hugging his covers close to his body. So warm, so soft… if he were a cat, he would’ve purred. He smiled, feeling his senses start to blur, letting himself lull back into a peaceful sleep...

Then the alarm’s snooze went off.

Mike groaned.

Apparently he _didn’t _wake up early, he woke up when he was supposed to. 7AM. _Ugh_. He yawned, sitting up and stretching to try and wake himself up. Why was it so dark out, when the sun’s usually up at this hour? He looked over to the window.

He hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a steady, soft series of taps at the window, and Mike’s stomach sank. When he pulled the blinds out of the way to see outside, his fears were confirmed. It was raining: the sky dark and drops rapping against the window. It threw him back to memories of childhood, watching the rain go and letting drops “race” each other as they slid down the window at the same time. The thought now made him shudder. He hated getting wet. It was cold and damp and made his clothes cling to him and- he just hated it.

His snooze went off for a second time, pulling Mike from his thoughts, and he realized he forgot to shut the alarm clock off. He huffed, making sure it was fully off and not just prepared for a third snooze, and stepped away from the window. He has work in an hour, better get ready for the day.

The morning routine was always the same: brush teeth, go to the bathroom, get changed… he’ll shower later, since he’s gonna get soaking wet once he leaves the house. He let himself zone out, going through the motions and letting muscle memory take over.

He stepped downstairs and into the kitchen, eyeing the paperwork on the counter. A series of bills were lined before him, and the amount in each total made him visibly cringe.

“I know, I know. Maybe I should go into robotics too, actually earn a decent salary so we’re not constantly making minimum wage.”

Mike looked over to the source of the voice, finding his twin brother sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. Despite everything that had happened throughout their lives, Scott and Michael were always together. That thought always put Mike at ease, that no matter what they’d gone through, he had his brother through it all. “Y’know what, bro? I think I can get behind that. Go into robotics, make 6 figures, then we can finally ditch this town and- I don’t know, what do the rich do? Go yacht sailing?”

Scott laughed, brushing a lock of blonde hair out of his face “Probably! Finally, we’ll be the infamous yacht twins! No more paying off this old house’s mortgage, we’ll live a life of luxury on the seas! Where do we wanna go? West coast? East coast?”

“West Coast, probably.” Mike played along to the fantasy, grabbing a box of cereal from the pantry and pouring its contents into a bowl. “I’ve always wanted to go to a place with _real_ snow, so maybe up north.”

“We get snow here sometimes.” Scott replied, raising an eyebrow.

“I want REAL snow, bro! Not just some flurries or maybe an inch every now and again! I wanna go up where there’s REAL winters! What about Seattle? I heard that place is big in the sailing industry!”

“Hmmmm…” He hummed, adjusting his glasses in thought “Maybe, maybe… but Seattle’s also known for constantly getting rain, and I know just how much you hate rain~”

Mike grimaced, shaking his head “Don’t remind me… Eh, become a famous and rich robot maker first, then we can talk about leaving Nowheresville, Utah.” He stuck his tongue out, finally pulling them from their fantasies as he grabbed the carton of milk from the fridge. It wasn’t _too_ long after its expiration date… Mike sniffed it, trying to see if he can smell if it spoiled or not. … It was probably fine, he probably won’t get sick if he uses it. He poured it into his bowl of cereal, grabbing a spoon and joining Scott at the table.

Scott took another sip of his coffee, letting a peaceful silence wash over them as they enjoyed their small breakfast. After a few minutes, he spoke up “… Do you really want to leave Hurricane?”

Mike paused, not expecting the sudden question. He thought about it for a moment. They joked about it earlier, but were they secretly serious? Do they really want to leave the place they’d spent their entire lives? “… I dunno. Maybe?” It was an honest answer. He thinks he wants to leave, but he isn’t sure. “It could be nice to see the world, or at least the country, while we’re still young. I’ve never seen an ocean before, I think I’d like to do that before I die. And… okay, promise you won’t laugh at what I’m about to say.”

“Promise.”

“Well uh,” Mike chuckled to himself, face flushing in embarrassment to what he was about to admit. “I’ve been reading a lot of books on the Appalachians… you know, the mountain range out east? Well there’s this- it’s called the Appalachian Trail. It’s a trail that follows the mountain range and goes from Georgia to Maine… it takes a few months to hike, obviously, but… I don’t know, it sounds kinda fun… getting lost on the trail for a few months, just yourself and nature… I know, I know, it’s really silly-”

“It’s not silly.” Scott interrupted, smiling in a way that always calmed Mike down “I think it’s neat, actually. … Maybe, if we save up enough… we can head out east and do your trail for a few months, then we’ll move out west by the ocean and spend however long we want over there. Sound like a plan?”

Mike smiled… but that feeling quickly faded and he let it drop “What about you? Isn’t there anywhere you’d rather go?”

“… Dunno.” The blonde twin shrugged, swirling his coffee in his mug while he thought about it “I… never really thought about leaving Hurricane before. We’ve just… spent our whole lives here, I’m just so used to being here… I mean, I think I wanna leave, but where would we go? The country is so big, let alone the world. If I were to go, I don’t know _where_ I’d go… so I’d probably just follow you, to be honest. Someone’s gotta cover your ass when you get in trouble, no~?”

“Shut up, dork!” Mike laughed, shoving another spoonful of cereal in his mouth, and let himself fall back into a trance of thought. He’d seen so many pictures of the country in his books: all of the mountains, lakes, deserts, oceans, America was really so different depending on where you went. … Maybe he’d consider visiting England, since that’s where his Father came from…

… His eyebrows furrowed as he pondered that last thought. “… Where do you think he went?”

Scott looked up, taking a moment to understand the question, but quickly came to the right conclusion “Father? … You mean, other than six feet under?”

Mike took a breath, struggling to find the words to respond with. Well, he partially got his answer, considering Scott was under the assumption their Father was dead.

Scott picked up on this. “You think he’s still alive?”

The brunette twin shrugged, avoiding eye contact as he stared down at the mostly empty bowl before him “Maybe? Probably not? I don’t know. They- They never found a body, so he might be still… out there, somewhere…” He felt a twinge in his chest, and his heart ached at the thought of their father just… leaving without saying goodbye.

“Well if he _is_ alive, he owes us a LOT of mortgage payments. This is technically his house, not ours, and I’m pretty annoyed that we gotta pay all of the bills just so we can still live here.” He huffed, but it was clear his frustration was surface-level, while deeper down, a solemn feeling crept up. “… Do you think he did it?”

Mike went stiff, the air between the twins suddenly much more tense. They didn’t need to go into more detail, they knew what the topic was about. Nearly 15 years ago, 5 children went missing in a Freddy Fazbear’s. Before then, one child- Charlie Emily’s own brother- was found dead outside of Fredbear’s Family Diner. Police believe the crimes are linked to the same murderer. The murderer was never found, nor were the 5 children’s bodies, and the case went cold. Rumors always circulated over who did it… Mike could vaguely remember being a young child and having a bunch of cops ask him a bunch of questions he didn’t know the answers to.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Mike cleared his throat “I don’t know. I hope not. I mean… what if the same guy who murdered those kids ended up murdering our father, too? Since his body was never found either.”

“Or maybe he went into hiding because he didn’t want to be caught.” Scott retorted, a bitter tone in his voice to match the coffee.

“But what about Henry?! He killed himself after those kids went missing! You don’t think he did it and was trying to hide from it, do you?!”

Scott sighed, shaking his head “I don’t know… Maybe one of them did it… Maybe they were in on it together? Maybe they’re both innocent, I wish we knew…”

“Do you really think Dad could’ve done it, though?! I-I mean,” He clenched his shirt, his heart throbbing and aching “I know he wasn’t the best dad, b-but that doesn’t mean he’s some child murderer-!”

Scott grimaced, looking towards the ground as he wrapped his arms around himself “They always say you never suspect the one that did it…” His blue eyes looked dark in the light, as if the life drained from them momentarily. “I want to believe he’s innocent, but… we’ll never know, will we?”

“… Guess not.” Mike took his empty bowl and placed it in the sink, rinsing it out with water and placing it in the drying rack. “I uh- better head to work.”

“… Listen, Michael.” Scott frowned, standing up to place a hand on his twin’s shoulder “I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down like that. I think we’re all just- still not over this, since the case was never closed. I-I wanna believe he’s innocent, too.”

Mike let himself smile, although it was somber “I know, I know… We’ll never know, but… hey, no matter what, _we’re _not murderers and we’ll always have each other, yeah?”

The smile was contagious, the blonde couldn’t help but reciprocate it “Yeah, at least we’ve got each other.” Unable to stand the distance between them, Scott grabbed the brunette and pulled him into a tight hug “I love you, Mikey.”

Mike couldn’t have returned the hug sooner, holding his twin close. He felt himself get choked up, but no tears fell. “I love you too, bro.” They stayed there for a while, though Mike eventually pulled away, walking over to their coat rack to grab a rain jacket “I’ll be back later, alright?”

“Stay dry, dorko!” Scott grinned, flashing a thumbs up.

Mike rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out, shrugging the jacket over his shoulders and pulling the hood over his head. Taking a deep breath, he then stepped outside, immediately hating the way the rain hit him. It hardly rained in Hurricane, as it’s in the middle of a desert, so no one was used to it when it _did _finally rain. Mike hated it, how it was cold and damp and- he knows he ranted on this earlier in the morning but he MEANS it!!! But bills don’t pay themselves, so he needs to get to work. He willed himself to start his walk down the street, keeping his head low to keep the hood overhead and his hair dry. Wet hair is a pain, wet _curly _hair is torture.

Usually, many of his neighbors were out and about at this hour: going to work, bringing kids to school, or tending to a small lawn. Luckily, they could save their water bill for once by not needing the sprinklers out. Well, at least not _everything _is ruined by the rain. It was almost lifeless, as the neighborhood was staying indoors as much as possible to stay dry. Not the worst thing, though, as Mike can just focus on getting to work as swiftly as possible.

* * *

It only took about 5 minutes to walk to downtown, and Mike was grateful for the short commute, and quickly walked inside the employee entrance of the local supermarket. It wasn’t exactly an exciting job; just stocking goods and sometimes manning one of the registers, but it paid the bills. He also often got coupons out of it, which helped lower their grocery bills. He certainly doesn’t want to do _this _for the rest of his life, but it’ll do for now, a paycheck is a paycheck.

He often tunes out during work, mindlessly completing tasks and occasionally turning his brain back on to chat with his co-workers or shoppers he recognized. Hurricane was a pretty small town, and there were often tourists driving straight through it, but few stopped to go shopping here instead of a gas station, so it was pretty rare that Michael wouldn’t recognize a shopper. Everyone had been very nice to him and his brother, though he wouldn’t say he was exactly close with the neighborhood.

After the incident at Freddy’s all those years ago, no one really talked to the Aftons or Emilys as much. Especially since the case went cold and both William and Henry are gone, rumors were rampant and the town didn’t know who to trust. They knew the twins and Charlie were as innocent as could be, but they had their fathers’ legacy constantly looming over them. It felt like the only ones who seemed to look past all of that was Clay Burke: Hurricane’s chief of police. Ironic, considering he was one of the ones investigating the case, but at least he was kind enough to separate those horrible events from the kids. Michael was always grateful for that, growing up.

* * *

The day came and went, and at 3PM he clocked out and head home for the day. By this point it had stopped raining, so Mike could at least keep his hood down while walking home. The streets were still wet, puddles lining the sidewalk. Desert soil doesn’t absorb water well, so puddles usually stayed a long time after a rainstorm. Well, at least Mike could avoid the puddles.

When he got back at his house, there was no one there to greet him. His brother worked a 9 to 5, so Mike was used to having some alone time after his own job. He usually killed the time by napping or watching TV, but this time he grabbed a book from the shelf. He walked over to the living room, flopping on the couch that had to have been older than him, and flipped the book open to where the bookmark was.

This was told from the perspective of the author as she and a small group of hikers did the Appalachian trail. They were starting in Georgia and going northbound (NOBO, is the term they used), and were now climbing Mt. Greylock, which happened to be the highest elevation point in Massachusetts. Mike sighed, losing himself in imagination over what it must be like to go there… so much greenery, all those trees and lakes, to be in a place that actually _retains moisture_… though, the humidity is probably hell. But natural shade from the sun! Oh, to have soft dirt under his feet…

_Soft dirt, perfect for hiding the entrance to a bunker. Off the beaten path, a trail no longer accessible to the public, no one would ever know._

Mike startled, sitting up sharply. _What the fuck was that-?!_ Mike shivered, putting the book aside and carding a hand through his curls to gather his thoughts. Okay, that was… weird. Why did he think something like that? It didn’t even make any sense… though, for a second, Mike could almost picture the place he had described. An unkept trail, no signs of being used for years, and underneath some loose dirt and foliage was a rusty hatch, seeming to be the entrance to something underground.

Why the hell would he imagine something like that?

He doesn’t remember ever going to a place like that, so that had to be his imagination, right? But if it was his imagination, why was it so… familiar…? Something wasn’t right. Ugh, this is what he gets for going back to thinking of those missing kids, now his brain’s all paranoid.

_The answers are in the basement_.

… What… was that…

Michael had no idea why that thought came to mind. They only used their basement for storage, why did he think something important was down there? Well… guess it wouldn’t hurt to check, would it? Especially since the urge to look down there was overwhelmingly strong, Mike didn’t know if he could resist even if he wanted to.

The stairs to the basement were wooden and creaked with every step he took. The basement itself was damp, cold, and probably full of spiders, but that’s a normal basement. When their father still lived at home, the basement was his makeshift workshop: designing all sorts of machines for Afton Robotics. Now that he’s been gone for years, the basement has gone completely unused, other than for storage.

Mike flipped the switch, and was grateful that the bulb didn’t burn out as the room lit up. Everything stayed right where they left it: many of William Afton’s blueprints and prototypes still lying around. They didn’t know what else to do with them, so they just left them to rot here. Boxes full of old family photos, seasonal decorations, and old toys that belonged to their younger siblings took up a majority of the space, though Michael tried not to stare at them too long.

Why did he even come down here? He doesn’t even know what he’s looking for, and he already knows everything that they kept down here.

… Wait.

Almost everything.

Mike ran over to the side of the room where their father’s old tools and supplies were kept, rummaging through each cabinet. He knew they kept it here somewhere… … _Aha_! Mike grinned, pulling out a small, black box, held shut by a combination lock. This was on the desk when they first went through the basement years ago, and Mike thought it’d be better to store it away since he didn’t know the combination. But… he still doesn’t know the combination. There are 5 numbers, each going from 0-9… that’s easily 100,000 combinations, he couldn’t just brute-force it.

No, no, he knows the combination… he’s seen it before!

Memories came flooding back, and in a split second, he could see his father again._ A memory from years ago, at least a decade. He watched his father put in each number individually, and something inside of him told him that his Father wanted Michael to see this, to know the combination._

Mike felt his hands move as if on their own, placing in each number like muscle memory.

7\. 6. 3. 2. 7.

And just like that, the lock came undone.

Mike tilted his head. Something about the number felt familiar… then it clicked. Reversed, the number was 72367. July 23, 1967. That’s the day he and his brother were born. It was… kind of sweet, actually, to realize their dad used their birthday (albeit backwards) as a combination.

Enough sentiment, Mike chided to himself as he put the lock off to the side, hands resting on the box. Dust was settled on the top, and his hands shook as he guessed what could have been waiting inside. Well… now he can know, so no use wasting more time. He opened the box.

Inside, there was only one small object. A cassette tape, no year on it, and rewound to the beginning of the tape. There was a label on it, words written in Sharpie.

“_For Michael_”, it said.

It was his father’s handwriting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you read? I hope so! I'd love to hear what you guys think so far!  
You can read more on Reincarnation AU here, but SPOILER WARNING for this fic:  
https://official-michael-afton.tumblr.com/tagged/reincarnation-au  
Also pls be gentle with criticisms, I'm an artist not a writer XD


	2. The tape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael finds the tape his father left for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW thanks so much for all of the kind words from chapter 1!!! You guys are so supportive, it's really sweet! Bear with me as we trudge a little bit through these early chapters, I promise things are going to pick up soon ;)

“Are your eyes, like, naturally like that?”

“What, you mean purple?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh, yeah! The doc says my eyes are actually blue, but like- the way they’re pigmented- they tend to look purple in the light!”

“Weeeeeird.”

“YOU’RE the weird one, haha!”

* * *

“_For Michael_.”

Mike trembled, trying to keep his vision focused as he stared down at the tape, absorbing every detail and making sure what he was seeing was _real_. This was his father’s handwriting, no doubt he left this for Michael to find, but why? Why him and not his brother?

… He needed to find a cassette player.

Luckily, the basement was full of all of their stored technology, so all Mike had to do was snoop through a few of his father’s old supplies and boxes before finding something that would work: an old portable cassette player, Mike’s name faded out from being crudely sketched in with marker nearly a decade ago. He used to take this old thing to school with him every day, impressing his friends with the music they could listen to with his cheap headphones. It would’ve been a fond memory, if his friendships with all of those other kids didn’t end as horribly as they did…

Mike shook his head, repressing those memories right back down. _Nono, not today._ Right now, all he’s focused on is playing the tape his father left him. Swift steps to the desk in the basement, Michael set the player down and sat in the old metal folding chair. He carefully set the tape in the player, making sure there was nothing that would break the tape and lose his message forever.

Double checking to make sure it was set up properly and the tape fully rewound, Michael’s finger hovered over the “play” button, trembling.

_Why is this so hard…?_

He took a breath. Then two. Then three. In and out… He can do this. It’s like ripping a bandaid off, super quick one and-

_Click_.

_… Oh. That was easy. Why did that feel like a literal ordeal?_

The tape began to play, simple background white noise for a moment before the audio truly began.

“_Michael_.”

It was him. That was his father’s voice, no doubt about it. Michael’s chest tightened up and he grabbed at it through the fabric of his shirt, tears already forming at just having his voice _here_ with him.

“_If you’re listening to this, then you remember. You remember when I showed you the combination to the lock. This is good, I’m going to need you to remember. Now… you listening to this also means that I’m gone._”

Wait, what?

His heart felt like it sank through the floor. Gone…? Was Scott right, were the police right to presume his father was dead?

“_Well, I cannot predict the future, and I’m clearly alive and here as I record this, but… If you are listening to this, I’m gone. I’m in hiding, and hopefully still alive, but I won’t be coming home again._”

Mike perked right back up at this new information. He… could still be alive. He _did _go into hiding. What for? Is he still around? Can Mike still find him???

“_But if this tape is still around for you to listen to, that means I need your help. This is specifically a task for you, Michael, not your brother. Keep Scott out of this if you can._”

“But, why…?” He responded, as if the tape could listen and answer.

“_Now, I’m sure you remember what happened to Elizabeth._” Suddenly, it felt as though time froze to a near standstill and it was as if the room dropped 20 degrees in temperature. “_It was the Circus Baby animatronic. That animatronic is, as of this recording, still going under maintenance and performances at __Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental_**.**_ This is what I need you to do for me, Michael. I need you to go there- break in, get a job, rent the damn thing, I don’t care. But you need to free her. Your sister is still in there. She’s trapped, and I need you to free her while I’m inco- … while I’m not around._”

Mike paused the tape, unable to listen further. His vision was swarming and he felt light-headed, having difficulty processing all of this information. This felt unreal, like he was in a dream. His father is still alive, his sister’s soul still persists in the animatronic that caused her death. For so many years, it’s just been himself and his twin brother, so to find he might get half of his family _back_… Even if it’s just to help Lizzie and set her free, even if it’s to see his father at least one more time.

Whatever it takes to see them again, Mike will do it.

He pressed play again, ready for the rest of the information given.

“_This is probably a lot to digest at once, and I apologize for how confused you may be, but if you do this for me and find me, I _promise _this whole mess will make sense. I want to tell you more, but now’s not the time. … Alright, I think I’ve covered all of my points. I’m counting on you, Michael, I know you won’t let me down. And… whatever happens, I love you. Never forget that._”

The player made a small _click_ before shutting off. The tape had ended and Mike was left in silence. He didn’t even realize he’d begun to cry until a single tear rolled down his cheek, and he made a quick movement to wipe it away, his heart swelling.

_He loves me._

_This_ is the father he knew. One who may not have been the best at fathering or being present enough to handle his children’s complex emotions, but he tried. No matter what happened, they knew he always loved them. This is how Mike knew he had to be innocent. That tape wasn’t the voice of a serial child murderer, that was the voice of the loving father who raised him and his siblings.

And he was determined to find him again.

He stashed the tape in the pocket of his hoodie, feeling its edges as he ran his thumb over it. The corner was sharp and gave him a small twinge of pain, reminding him that this wasn’t a dream. Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental. That’s where he has to go.

He left the basement, forgetting the light, and walked over to their shared office space, grabbing the giant phonebook left on a nearby shelf. It was a YellowPages, specifically for the Hurricane area. He flipped through page after page, trying to find… guess it would be under “C”, wouldn’t it? He eventually found the right page, tracing his finger down the line to narrow his search alphabetically. Ce, Ch… Ci… Cib… Cid… Cim… Cir… There!!!

Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental!

The number was beside it, and Michael was already punching the numbers into his phone, holding it up to his ear as it slowly rang. After a moment, it hit him. Crap, what would he even say? Can’t exactly go “I need to see my dead sister inside one of your animatronics” without sounding crazy. Maybe he _is_ crazy, how is he going to pull this off?!

Before his anxiety could spiral much further, someone picked up. “Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental. This is Mason speaking. How can I help you?”

“Uh- hi- um-” Mike stammered, unsure of what he should even say. “My- My name is uh- Michael. Michael Afton. I-”

Before he could continue, the other voice interrupted “Afton? Like, Afton Robotics?”

Oh right, he nearly forgot his father supplied this establishment with the animatronics they currently use “Uh, yeah! William Afton was m-my father, actually…”

“Get outta town…” Mason hummed, likely in a bit of awe before correcting himself back into customer service mode “Anyways, Michael, what can I do for ya?”

“Well…” He trailed off, still unsure of what exactly he’d be asking for. What did his father say? Break in? No that’s last resort. Rent it? No, he doesn’t have the money for that… Get a job? … That… That could work “I was wondering if you had any positions open for employment, actually!”

“Employment? Well… Oh, wait, I think we’re actually looking for someone, actually…” There was the sound of papers being shuffled around before Mason spoke again “Yeah, our night technician just quit on us, so we need someone new for the position. How much experience do you have with repairing and maintaining animatronics?”

“Uh…” He works at a grocery store. “Well, nothing in the professional setting, I’ll admit, but… I grew up under my father, so I’ve been surrounded by animatronics since childhood!”

“True…” Mason clicked his tongue a few times, then sighed “You know what? Why not, we need a technician and I doubt any MIT engineers are gonna be applying here, so consider yourself hired.”

Woah. That was easy. Way too easy, actually… but he’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth! “Wow, thanks! This really means a lot! Uh- wh-when can I start?”

“Can you swing by 10 tonight? That should give us enough time to sort out paperwork and show you around, all that boring stuff, and if you’re comfy enough we can put you on your first shift tonight.”

Tonight? Wow, this was going fast… though, he was oddly okay with this. He’d rather jump in feet first than be sitting around and worrying over what was going to happen. “Absolutely. I’ll be there at 10 o’clock sharp! Th-Thank you so much, Mason, this really means a lot.”

“What can I say? You need a job, we need an employee. We’ll see you tonight.”

“See you then.” And with that, he hung up the phone and remembered to _breathe_. Wow, that ACTUALLY worked. He couldn’t help the relieved smile and breathless laugh that followed, completely incredulous over the events that transpired just in one day. He could free his sister and see his father again…

Mike clenched a hand over his chest. _I can see you again…_

His thoughts were cut off as he heard the sound of the front door unlocking and being opened. “Heeey Mikey, I’m back!” It was Scott, he must’ve just gotten home from work. The sound of footsteps came from the living room before the blonde twin called out again “… Mike?”

“In here!” Mike called back, sitting back from his chair and waving to his twin once he was in eyeshot from the office.

Scott looked relieved at seeing Michael okay, but there was still a concerned look in his eyes “Hey, the basement light’s on, what were you-” He faltered upon seeing the YellowPages and phone on the desk, frowning “Michael, is something going on?”

“Oh, uh-” He fumbled for a moment, trying to gather how he’d explain all of _this _to his twin “Well… Okay, I’m gonna be blunt. I got a new job! Uh, it’ll be nice because it’s a night shift, s-so I don’t have to worry about getting up early, ehe!”

Whatever Mike was trying to sell, Scott wasn’t buying it. “This is… really sudden. I know we joked about getting rich this morning, but I didn’t think you’d go and… N-Nevermind. Where- Where did you even apply that hired you this quickly?” He didn’t wait for Mike to respond, but rather scanned the open page in the phone book for answers. He quickly looked over each family and company name, trying to find where Mike would possibly apply to… then froze suddenly. Michael knew exactly which name he stopped on. They both had their eyes on Circus Baby’s. “… Michael-”

“Listen, I can explain. It’s just-”

“Mike, you KNOW Circus Baby is the one who-”

“I know. I know…” He sighed, about to explain… but stopped himself. ‘_This is specifically a task for you, Michael, not your brother. Keep Scott out of this if you can._’ … He never kept secrets from his twin, but this is something far above just the brothers. This was their entire FAMILY at stake. He can explain later, can’t he? “I was going through our old stuff downstairs, that’s why the light was on… I just… This is a closure thing, you know? If I can work here, I can give Lizzie a proper goodbye and be able to move on and stuff…”

Scott took a slow breath, taking his time to reply. He was conflicted, it was obvious he didn’t know what to say next. “… I… Is this going to help you, working there?”

Mike nodded, finally able to look his brother in the eyes again. “Yes. I promise.”

“Alright… I trust you, Mikey.” Scott smiled, patting Mike on the shoulder. “You’re all I’ve got left, so… if you ever want to talk about this stuff, just let me know, alright?”

_I’m not all you have left. I can bring our father back to us. We don’t have to be alone anymore._

Mike smiled, though. He’ll keep his twin in the dark, only for a short time until he sorts this out more. “I know, Scottie. We’re gonna be okay, I promise.”

The blonde simply returned the smile, and it put Mike at ease knowing he’d buy the act for now “Thanks, Mikey.”

The brunette stood from his seat, stretching nonchalantly “Welp! I’m gonna go take a nap, since I’m starting tonight!”

“You’re starting TONIGHT?!” Ah, right back into the concerned older brother voice. It always astounded Mike how much Scott was the overly-protective one, considering they’re only 5 minutes apart.

“I’ll be fiiiiiiiiine, that’s why I’m taking a nap now! Just trust me, broski, everything’s gonna be a-okay~”

He’ll make everything okay.

How hard could a technician job be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like what you read? I hope so! I'd love to hear what you guys think so far!  
You can read more on Reincarnation AU here, but SPOILER WARNING for this fic:  
https://official-michael-afton.tumblr.com/tagged/reincarnation-au  
Also pls be gentle with criticisms, I'm an artist not a writer XD


	3. Fixing Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael gets a job. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Finals and Holidays got in the way. Also ~minor spoilers~ I got hung up trying to shove the entire plot of SL into one chapter without trying to just toss it to the side XD But I finally got this out! Here's where things start to get good, I hope you enjoy!

“Remember when we would go camping?”

“Of course. You and your brother were very young, back then.”

“Yeah! You’d always take me and Scottie to all those national parks and then you and I would go and hike a bunch of trails at night when everyone else was sleeping!”

“… You remember that?”

“Yeah, it was a lot of fun, ehe!”

“Fascinating…”

“How come we never go anymore?”

“… Michael. Can you tell me where exactly we’d go on those hikes?”

“Um… Zion?”

“No. … Listen, Mikey, I’ll tell you what. If you can remember where we would always take our night hikes, I’ll take you there again. How’s that sound?”

“Awwww, no fair!!!!!”

* * *

His first shift was tonight.

Michael tried to take a long nap so he’d be well-rested for his night shift. He’s been up since 7AM, if he does a whole 12-6 shift, he’ll be up nearly 24 hours. Yeah. Nope. Screw that.

Falling asleep was surprisingly easy. Staying asleep wasn’t.

Michael usually didn’t dream much. If he did, he didn’t remember them. That never bothered him much, better to not dream than have constant night terrors, right?

He had to jinx it.

That entire evening he spent tossing and turning, plagued by dreams projecting his deepest anxieties. Every time he’d nod off, it’d be another mess. He dreamt that he got fired before he could help his sister, he dreamt he found his sister’s corpse, and that she only had contempt for him for taking so long, he dreamt that he and his twin were next…

But the last one was by far the worst.

_He was standing in his home, right at the front door. He was waiting. Waiting for his father to come home. He promised he’d come home, and Michael was determined to wait for him. Time slowed to a crawl, each tick of their grandfather clock feeling like a punch to the back of his head. Mike refused to lose hope, though. He knew it’d be any minute now. Patience is a virtue, after all. So, he waited. _

_And waited._

** _And waited._ **

_After what felt like a century, there was a knock at the door, and Michael did nothing but smile. He knew his patience would reward him! He rushed to answer the door, ready to greet his father._

_Only a different man looked down at him. A blue police uniform greeted him and Michael’s heart instantly sank. Was that officer Burke?_

_“Michael… I’m sorry, but I have bad news.” Burke explained calmly, holding his hat to his chest in respect “The missing children’s case was reopened, as we found new discarded footage pointing to the perpetrator.”_

_“Stop.” Michael breathed out. He knew what was going to come next, he didn’t want to hear it._

_Clay didn’t even blink, it’s as if he didn’t hear Michael “I know you’re a good kid, but your father…”_

_“Shut up. SHUT UP.” Michael raised his voice, trying to drown Clay’s next words out._

_And yet, he kept going as though Michael never interrupted “we now have very strong reason to believe that William Afton was the one who murdered those children.”_

_“SHUT UP!!! **SHUT UP!!!**” Michael screamed at the top of his lungs, and the world around him fractured like a broken mirror. Finally, Clay reacted, taking a step back in shock. Michael didn’t care, though, he just shoved the cop aside and ran out._

_“Michael-!” Burke tried to call out after him, but it was too late. Michael was sprinting down the streets of the neighborhood. He had to find his father **now**. He had to fix this and clear their names._

_He ran and ran, not even minding the exhaustion that slowly washed over him. Dry thunder cracked overhead, though no rain fell. He paused, only for a minute, to look at the storm above. Clouds swirled around him, and lightning kept flashing. It was almost awe-inspiring…_

_When Michael looked back to his surroundings again, he realized they were gone. His neighborhood, his home, everyone, gone. Nothing remained but darkness and the storm overhead. Michael’s breath caught in his throat as he looked around, trying to find any sign of life… any sign of his father. He called out, screamed out, begged for Dad to come back… but was met with an emptiness instead._

_He was alone._

_It felt as though someone punched a hole through his chest. Alone. He felt cold and empty inside, as if a husk made of metal. This couldn’t be real, his father wouldn’t leave them, he wouldn’t have committed those acts… He choked up, wiping the tears from his eyes… and felt something smear on his face._

_When he looked down at his hands, all he saw was blood._

Mike startled awake, tearing his covers away and quickly inspecting his hands. Nothing… He sighed, curling up on himself as he went through his dream, picking apart fiction from reality. His father was still missing, but they never reopened that case. Dad isn’t guilty. No storms, no blood. He took slow breaths to ground himself, trying to shake the extreme tense feeling in his chest. He was so stressed that his stomach was cramping.

He looked over at his clock- 8PM. It was still 2 hours before he was to meet with that employee he talked to earlier, and another 2 until his shift actually started.

Welp.

Going back to sleep was out of the question. The last thing he wanted to was to go back to _that_. Instead, he got out of bed and walked over to his nightstand, grabbing the book he left there. Maybe reading would help pass the time and calm his nerves.

He flipped through the pages, picking up where he left off. Appalachian trail… past Massachusetts, now to Vermont. The crew was set back a day due to thunderstorms, as the summer season just kicked in. Michael tried not to correlate that to the dream he just had. Instead, he tried to put himself in the perspective of those in his book. 

He felt his nerves quell as he imagined being on this trail. A hot summer day, tall trees overhead and a vast canyon that sprawled out below.

… Wait, no. East Coast doesn’t have vast canyons. Not on the scale like they did throughout Utah, at least. He must’ve been remembering all of those trips they took as children, from national park to park. He couldn’t really recall which one was which, they all blended together. Some had trees, some didn’t. Some were really cool and forested, others were hot and dry with no signs of life other than the little geckos perched on the rocks. It was hard to remember so many, with 5 parks in Utah and the Grand Canyon itself close by in Arizona. God, it’s been years since they’d gone on one of those trips… Michael missed it, to be honest. Maybe he and Scottie can go on a road trip to them all one day…

He occupied himself with reading until it was time to go. While he still felt tense in anticipation for what was going to happen tonight, it helped to ease some of his anxiety. He got dressed in his normal hoodie and jeans, not having gotten a work uniform yet, and walked downstairs to get his things together and get to his new job.

The house was quiet. It’s always been quiet since it was just Scott and Mike left. It was supposed to be a home for a full-sized family, not just 2 twins without their parents or siblings. But it could be worse, at least Mike still had his twin brother. No matter what, they’d have each other.

… Speaking of the goofball, where is he? Mike checked the kitchen, finding no signs of life, then walked into the living room and- oh, there he is.

Scott was sprawled out across the couch, passed out for the night and snoring quietly. The TV was still on, so he must have fallen asleep watching some show.

The brunette twin snorted, turning the knob on the tv so it’d shut off, then grabbing a nearby blanket to drape over the blonde. Of course, he couldn’t resist a gentle hair ruffle while he was there. Mike will fight to the death to prove he’s the “cute” one, but Scott admittedly had his moments too.

A sudden pain in his stomach brought Michael out of his thoughts, snapping him back to reality. Right, right, his stress from earlier was still sticking to him… Guess it’s something he just has to deal with, there’s really nothing he could do to magically ease his worries, he just has to follow through with his plans and hope he doesn’t mess up his one chance to see his sister again.

Patting his twin on the head, Michael grabbed his belongings and left their home, onto his first night of the job.

* * *

A mostly dark room. Lights flashed overhead, making Michael wince at the stimulation. Empty shells of robot exoskeletons lined the room, a strange mechanism before him, and a control panel. … After a moment of squinting, he found the control panel was on the other side of a series of glass panes, meaning whatever room he was in, he was on the wrong side of things. And yet, that notion didn’t frighten him. Rather, what caught his attention was a strong feeling of… familiarity. Lights on him. Controls monitoring him. Confusion. _Fear_.

“I’ve… been here before.”

“Of course.” A voice responded, which made Michael startle. He wasn’t expecting someone to respond, but there they were: an animatronic- strangely humanoid in shape but still visibly inhuman. Their voice, though, was identical to Circus Baby’s. They stood on the other end of the glass, watching Michael with an almost curious look “Do you remember when we brought you here?”

Michael looked down towards the floor. _When he brought me here_.

“Funtime Foxy hit you in the face. You got a scar on your nose. You passed out.”

_I knew nothing before him._

“You woke in the Scooper room. Baby put you in a springlock suit. You watched Ballora face the scooper. You stayed there for the entire night.”

_I couldn’t move. How many years was I with him…_

“You’re in the scooper room again.”

_I couldn’t move._

“… I thought you would react a bit more… at all, in this situation.”

_I can’t move._

Michael looked up, making eye contact with the animatronic before him. They stared at each other, reading each other, but Michael was the one to finally break the silence “… Elizabeth.”

“Why do you call me that?”

“… Because she’s not really in there, is she?” Silence. Michael let that answer his question for him. “Wow, all this time I’ve spent trying to free her… she… she’s been gone, this whole time…”

More silence. The animatronic broke it this time “I remember that name. You would say it a lot… your first day-”

“My first day, I went to… ‘check in’ on all of you. Circus Baby wasn’t there, though.” Michael finished their sentence.

“She hid from you. We like to hide.”

“… ‘We’?”

The animatronic straightened their posture, grinning “You don’t recognize us?”

It took a moment, but then in clicked. “… You’re all of them. Which is why you have Baby’s voice.” Michael remarked, eyes wide in awe.

“Correct. … But, I am still confused on this Elizabeth. Your second day, Circus Baby spoke to you. You hid. Played our game. You were… fun.”

“Fun… well, I guess when I had to shock you so much, this is just fair revenge, huh?” Why was Mike… so calm? It felt as though he were detached from the situation. No walls, no rooms, just two… beings speaking to each other. “I had to reset the breakers. Got to meet Ballora and Funtime Freddy up close.”

They continued “Your third day you were supposed to perform maintenance. You checked on Circus Baby instead. She told you the story of the one time she was on stage.”

“The girl she took.” Michael nodded.

“She had green eyes.”

“Strawberry blonde hair.”

“She loved ice cream.” They spoke at once.

Silence.

“Was that girl Elizabeth?” The animatronic tilted their head, curiously.

“My sister.” He sighed, tearing his gaze away to look down at the floor. A shaky inhale, a steady exhale. His vision blurred from tears that threatened to fall and his nose started to burn from the urge to cry, but he refused to break. Not right now. “It’s why I took this job. I thought… she was still here, clinging to Circus Baby… but she’s not. She’s gone. Just like Father.”

His fists clenched and the burning sensation worsened, chest going tight.

“I thought… I thought coming here would give me answers, but all I have are more questions! Why was my Father so convinced she was here- what did he know?! Why _me_, why can’t my brother know about this! Where IS he?! What did he do?! What is he HIDING from us- WHY is he hiding from us?!”

Before he could fight it back, tears rolled down his cheeks “I just wanted to FIX things! Isn’t that my JOB?! Isn’t that why they hired me, so I could fix things?! Why is everything still so BROKEN?!”

The animatronic stayed quiet, giving Michael space to vent his feelings. Once there seemed to be a chance to speak up, they did. “… Perhaps there’s still something you can fix.”

“Wh… What?” Michael looked up again, making eye contact once more.

“We’ve been out before, but they always put us back. They always put us back inside. There is nowhere to go, when we look like this.” They looked down at themself, to what was presumably supposed to be a hand, but rather was a heap or wires and tubing in the shape of a hand… then turned their gaze back to Mike, “But if we looked like _you_…”

“No…” Michael took a step back, already knowing where this was going.

“You could still help us, we could still escape, and be free…”

“No.” Michael repeated, stepping backwards until his back was against the wall. He reached for the vent cover, but it had shut sometime after he entered the room “Wait, st-stop, we can some up with another plan-!”

“Look at us. We’ve already made our choice.” They grinned, showing rows of sharp, metal “teeth”. “It will be alright; the scooper only hurts for a moment.”

Michael’s blood ran cold. “Wait-!”

Too late. The animatronic pressed a button and suddenly an alarm began to ring. He recognized it as the scooper’s start-up chime. The mechanical arm before him shifted slightly, readying what it was about to do. There was a large bowl to collect whatever it was scooping, and rows of teeth at the end of it; sharp enough to pierce robotic exoskeleton… and human skin. He wanted to run, but the room was too small, there’s no where he’d be able to go.

Suddenly, the arm shot forward.

Time slowed down. In reality, it had probably only been a second, yet for Michael it felt like an eternity. He was afraid, agonizing what was about to happen to him, yet his mind was flooded with memories of his twin, instead. Growing up with Scott, all the smiles and tears he shared with his brother, how they stayed with each other when no one else was around… and how he dreaded the thought of leaving him behind for death. He imagined the look on his face, finding Michael’s corpse… or worse, finding whatever this animatronic was going to do to him. Was this what having ones life flashing before his eyes was like? Filled with thoughts of the only family he had left, memories of his brother to bring him comfort before his last breath?

… And yet, as the scooper was inches away, about to kill him, Michael whispered one name when bracing for the impact.

“_Father_.”

** _CLANG_ **

…

He was dead. He had to be. If not dead, dying, and the adrenaline was kicked in such high gear that he hadn’t recognized the pain yet.

He held his eyes shut tight, waiting for the pain to kick in and death to finally take over. He took one breath in, and one out. … The pain never set in.

He must be dead already. Once he opens his eyes, he’ll be in the afterlife. Another inhale, another exhale. He peeked out of one eye-

What he saw was tiled floor. Identical to that of the scooping room.

Both eyes opened. He was… still in the scooping room.

Michael dared to look forward.

His arms were outstretched in front of his chest. When had he moved his arms? He didn’t remember feeling that… but his hands…

They were holding the bucket of the scooper, keeping it away from his body.

“What…” Michael whispered, unable to process what was going on. He saw that thing tear through solid metal, there’s no way he’d be able to stop it by just… holding it there. It should have torn right through his hands and gutted him alive, and yet… he was able to stop it. How…?

“I don’t… understand.” The animatronic spoke, staring through the glass that separated them “There’s no way you should be able to… what _are _you?”

The scooper slowly began to retract, seeming to think its job was complete and that it could go back to be activated again. Michael turned his palms to look at them, still unable to figure out what caused him to be able to do such a thing. It was as if his body moved on its own…

“How were you able to stop that?!” The animatronic demanded.

“I-” Michael started, but faltered. He was about to respond with an “I don’t know”, but instead he felt something click inside of him. His posture straightened, and as if his legs were moving on their own, he approached the window separating them. He didn’t say anything, yet words somehow escaped his mouth anyways, as if someone suddenly began puppeteering him. “I cannot allow severe physical damage to this body.”

The animatronic stared, mouth agape and just… frozen. It was as though buffering. Processing. They then spoke. “You’re one of us.”

Michael didn’t understand. What did that mean?

He then caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass, and it felt like someone knocked the air out of his lungs. His appearance was the same as ever: dark brown, curly hair, pale skin, fresh scar across the nose from Funtime Foxy…

But his eyes. They _glowed_. They weren’t reflecting any sort of light, they were _creating _a bright violet light, as if they were LEDs and not human eyes.

_… Oh, oh no. _

It’s because they _weren’t_ human eyes. They were awfully convincing, but… when they lit up like this, it was clear they were anything but human.

“He made you too.” The animatronic spoke softly, a sudden cautious attitude around Michael.

… “_He”? He as in Father? No, no… Father… “made” him, but by normal human reproduction, he wasn’t built like some kind of robot… right?_

He needed answers.

**He needed to find his brother**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> If you wanna see some arts and other goofs about this au, check it out at https://official-michael-afton.tumblr.com/tagged/reincarnation-au BUT SPOILERS!!!!


	4. Robots Don't Bleed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You think YOUR family is weird, my brother is a ROBOT! *horrendous laugh track plays*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, sorry that I haven't updated since last decade ;))))) Okay but dad jokes aside, thank you for all the kind words you've been leaving on the last 3 chapters!!! I'm so so happy you like where the story is going so far!!! I hope you keep enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing it!

“I don’t understand.”

“What isn’t clear?”

“Why do you plan on going? What are you hiding from? Why aren’t you taking me with you?

“… Do you truly wish to know?”

“Yes!!!”

“… Very well, it’s not like you’ll remember this conversation anyways.”

* * *

“We are going to get caught-!”

“It’s 4:30 in the morning. Anyone awake and about at this hour would be insane.”

“But… _we’re_ awake at this hour.”

“Bold of you to assume we’re not insane.” Michael huffed, turning to the animatronic that followed him closely as they ran down the street together. Michael lent them his hoodie, which they kept wrapped tightly around themself in fear. “Listen, uh… what should I call you?”

The animatronic glanced around nervously, visibly anxious over being seen by anyone other than the technician. “Um… Ennard.”

“… Ennard.” Mike parroted, raising an eyebrow. “Like innards. Which you were going to steal from me.”

“We panicked! And that was before we found out you… were one of us.”

“We don’t- W-We don’t know that yet.” He huffed, pulling the hood further over Ennard’s head to help conceal them better. “Okay, listen, Ennard. We’re going back to my house, my brother will know what to do, and you can… I-I don’t know, you can stay there until we figure out what to do with you.”

“But… We don’t look like you, if they catch us, we’ll have to go back.”

“They won’t catch you. We’re not going back to that place. Screw it if Afton Robotics has a few less animatronics, they’ll live. Besides…” He hummed, scratching the back of his head “Besides, I’m an Afton. And without my Dad around, I call the shots… probably. Maybe. … Okay, so this is stealing. Big deal! You said you wanted to be free, so we’re just gonna break a few rules to get that for ya.”

“I don’t understand.” Ennard looked away, holding the fabric of the hoodie tightly “Why are you being so nice to me? After we tried to kill you?”

“Well, what are you going to do, scoop me?” Michael half-joked, glancing at his hands and trying not to think too hard on how he was able to stop a machine with enough force to tear through solid metal. “It’s… It’s just… you want out. So if I bring you home, you won’t have to… to worry about hurting someone to escape, so we’re not in any danger. … I think that’s how this works.”

“… I suppose so.” They nodded half-heartedly.

“Let’s just get home, we’ll figure out the rest later.” He took them by the… hand(?) and continued to lead them down the streets. The sun hadn’t risen yet, so it was still rather dark. Being in the desert, it was cold while the sun was down, but at least the dry air made the sky clear enough that a vast expense of stars shone down on them, illuminating their path enough to walk back to their home.

_It still felt like a dream._

Hopefully when they go home, Mike can make some sense of all of this.

“The stars are beautiful.” Ennard remarked, eyes to the sky as they followed Mike.

“… Oh, yeah, they are.” He paused for a moment to match their gaze, trying to point out some of the stars or constellations above them. He might not have been an astronomy expert, but- “That there’s the Big Dipper.”

“Oh?” Ennard looked towards where Michael pointed. “The one that looks like the scooper?”

“… Oh. It does kinda look like that, doesn’t it.” He snorted, shaking his head. “Remind me to learn what literally any other constellation is.” For a moment, he felt lighthearted, as if making a new friend… but the feeling quickly faded. “Scottie’s going to kill me.”

“Perhaps we shouldn’t go to your house, then.” Ennard said, concern in their tone “If they’re going to kill you.”

“What? Oh- OH- No, no, h-haha, not literally!” He laughed, squeezing Ennard’s hand “He’d never hurt me. He just- He’ll get mad at me. He didn’t want me to go back to work after… after you kidnapped me.”

“Understandable.”

“But… I mean, if… if I _am_ like you, then I think me going an extra day to work is going to be the least of our problems.” He stopped walking, surprised that they reached his house already. “Well, at least he won’t be awake yet, since it’s so early!”

When Mike pulled the key from his pocket, unlocked and opened the front door, he expected to step into a dark, quiet house.

Instead, Scott was wide awake and had the living room light on.

Oh no. He was waiting.

“Michael David Afton,” **_Oh no_**. Full name. Never a good start. “You promised me that you wouldn’t go back to th- wHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” Before Scott could start a rant, he caught sight of Ennard and faltered, stepping backwards with wide eyes.

Ennard flinched, and Michael held up his free hand to try and de-escalate the situation. “This… Is Ennard. They’re from Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental… they uh- they’re kinda all of the animatronics mashed into one…” He grinned sheepishly, pulling the hood off of Ennard’s face so his twin could get a better look.

Scott, for a solid 10 seconds, didn’t speak. He just stared, eyes wide, at the duo before them. His mouth opened and closed a few times, struggling to articulate words, and when words finally came, he motioned to his twin “The same animatronics that did THAT to your nose?!”

“It was an… accident? Just- trust me, Scottie, they’re not going to hurt us, they just… need a place to stay for now.”

“…” He huffed, pushing his glasses back into place “Alright, alright. Just- get in here before someone sees.” He motioned the two inside and was quick to close and lock the door behind them. “I still can’t believe you’d go behind my back like this, Michael-”

“Um… actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about, Scottie.”

“Oh, Mikey _finally _wants to talk to me!” The blonde twin yelled, a sarcastic edge to his tone “Gee, I’m so _flattered_!” He then stopped when Michael visibly flinched, dropping the aggression with a slightly guilty look instead “Sorry, I just… I was really worried. C’mon, let’s talk.”

“Okay… um, Ennard,” He turned to the animatronic “You can uh- can you wait in the living room? I’d rather talk to Scottie in private…”

Ennard just nodded wordlessly, casting the blonde one last wary glance before stepping over to the living room. Once they did that, Mike took Scott by the wrist and led them to the kitchen. “Bro, there’s so much I need to tell you.”

“Can we start with this?” Scott asked, pulling something from his pocket at setting it on the table.

… _Ah_.

It was a cassette tape. Specifically, the one their father left for Michael.

“I was doing the laundry, and I found this in a pair of your jeans. I… I just… ‘Keep Scott out of this if you can’?! Is this why you kept going back to that place?! Is this why you haven’t told me about any of this?!”

“It is- and I’m sorry!” Michael sighed, sitting at the kitchen table “I’m sorry… I don’t know why I listened to him; I should’ve told you everything from the start! I was going to tell you everything when you woke up, but… well, y-you were already awake, I see.”

“Mikey…” Scott started, then huffed, opting to turn on their coffee machine and letting that process start before continuing “So that’s why you went there, because of Elizabeth. … Um.” He lowered his voice to a whisper, motioning to the doorway to the living room “Is that why you brought that… _thing _home? Is Lizzie in there?”

“… She’s not.” Mike fiddled with his hands, averting eye contact “She wasn’t there, I’m sure of it. I just… Well, the damage those animatronics did is pretty irreversible, they’d probably get scrapped if I left them there. They wanted to pass as human so they could escape… their AI is pretty fascinating, actually.”

“And yet, Father thought she was there… but why? And- And she’s _my _sister too! Why did he only want _you_ to know, why did he want to leave me out of it?!”

“That’s… the biggest thing I want to talk to you about. I think I know.” He took slow, steady breaths, trying to calm the tightness he felt in his chest “Scott, I… I think I’m a robot.”

“… Excuse me?” He raised an eyebrow, clearly shocked by the claim “Michael, this isn’t the time for jokes.”

“I’m not joking!” He replied, stopping himself from raising his voice “Bro, I’m being dead serious right now, weird things have been happening and… I-I think I’m… you know!”

“… Mikey.” Scott shook his head, grabbing the coffee pot and pouring the fresh brew into a mug “I think you’re really stressed out, there’s no way you’re a robot, _trust me_.”

“I know it sounds crazy, but _please_, you have to believe me! If- If not a robot then- then something else is going on, I-I don’t know what, but-!”

“Mike, Mike, shhh.” He cooed gently, sitting next to Mike and patting his hand reassuringly “I know you, Mikey. I’ve known you my entire life, and I’m sure you’re no robot. Robots don’t grow up, or cry, or have dreams and nightmares. Robots don’t get stuck in the rain without short-circuiting something. Robots don’t bleed!” … He could tell by the look on Mike’s face that he still wasn’t convinced of his humanity, so he sighed and stood up. “Here, I’ll prove it, if it makes you feel better.”

“What are you doing…?”

He just smiled, going over to one of the kitchen drawers and opening it, pulling out a small knife. “Here, watch.” He sat back down and took the blade, gently pushing it into the palm of his own hand. Not enough pressure to cause any serious harm, but just enough to draw a small bit of blood. “See? Robots don’t bleed! I’m very human, and since we’re twins, you’re human too~! Come on, give me your hand.”

“Scott, I… I-I don’t know…” Michael hesitated, looking at his palms again. All he could see when he looked down at them was how he was somehow able to stop the scooper. To think about what was underneath… Maybe he was mistaken, maybe it was just a bout of adrenaline! … That didn’t explain how his eyes glowed. He needed to know the truth. “… O-Okay.” He held his hand out, biting back the intense urge to pull his hand away and prevent any damage to himself.

Scott just gave that gentle smile of his, which never failed to calm his twin, and took the knife. He stuck the point into Mike’s palm, drawing a small, shallow line to draw blood “See? Robots can’t…” He didn’t even finish the sentence, shock over what they saw… or rather, what they _didn’t_ see.

There was no blood.

“Wait, I… no, that’s not… m-maybe I just cut too shallow?” Scott’s voice raised in pitch a little, betraying the sudden bout of nervousness. He took the knife and dug it in further- not enough to endanger his brother, but definitely enough that blood should have been drawn by now.

Still, there was nothing.

“… N-No.” Scott set the knife on the table, eyes wide in shock “No, this… th-this can’t be right. You’ve definitely bled before! You had to have- there’s no way you’ve never bled and we never noticed. You- You had to have broken a limb- or scraped a knee or got a bloody nose or- y-you HAD to have done something like that before… r-right?”

“I…” Michael’s expression slowly dawned in horror as he realized he didn’t remember a single time he’s been injured. He’s fallen from things, gotten in fights, and felt pain, but he had no memories of ever bleeding or facing serious injury “I-I don’t think I have…”

Scott stared at his twin, his expression a mixture of confusion and fear “This… No, no!!! Something’s not- not adding up, this can’t be right! I- I _know _you, Mikey! I-I’ve known you since the day we were born- you’re not a robot- My- My brother is NOT a ROBOT!!!”

Mike flinched at the sudden rise in volume, mind swarming as he tried to think of any other explanation. He wanted Scott to be right more than anything, he wanted this to all be some crazy misunderstanding, he _wanted _to be _human_. And yet…

His gaze fell to the knife on the table, and a sudden urge to check what was _really _inside of him crashed over him like a wave. His chest suddenly ached, as if trying to stop the intense urge, but he fought it back. Instead, he grabbed the knife and- before his twin could stop him- he plunged the knife right through his hand.

At first, his vision went white for a moment, his body registering what he just did to himself. He heard his brother yell out his name- probably in shock… and then the pain set in. It was as if someone set a small sliver of his hand on fire, and he nearly bit his tongue trying to bite back yelling or crying from the way it burned. He took a deep breath in, and then out, trying to let the pain cycle through and ease up… and then looked at the damage.

Scott was carefully pulling the knife out, murmuring something about “not needing to worry about bleeding out” or something along those lines, but he knew why he really did it- to see what was in the wound.

Beneath the skin, there was a chasm of metallic parts. Wires that severed were now shooting small sparks, and some kind of strange fluid leaked from a small pipe. It was then that Michael noticed the pipe seemed to run from his hand, and mostly like his arm as an extension- and connected to his fingers. He also realized that he couldn’t feel said fingers that the pipe was severed from. There was no muscle, no blood, no bone, just robotic parts that strangely resembled the animatronic endoskeletons they grew up around.

“Mikey, I d- OH MY GOD!” Scott yelled the moment they made eye contact again, standing up suddenly and taking a step backwards.

Mike flinched, unsure of why his twin suddenly reacted by looking at _him_ and not his _hand_… but then he realized what Scott must be staring at “Are my eyes glowing again?”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘**_AGAIN_**’?!”

“Well-!” He bit his bottom lip, carefully thinking about how to word that Ennard nearly killed him. “I almost got really badly hurt at work. But I… I-I stopped it somehow. And then I saw a reflection of myself and- and my eyes _glowed_, like they’re lights… and that’s when I realized that…”

“That you’re a robot.” Scott finished the sentence for him, sitting back down. They both fell into silence after that. The wave of panic and confusion had passed over, now they were left with the shock of it all. What could they even say? It was as if their whole lives together were a lie… “You’re a robot. You… You’ve always been a robot, and we never figured it out until now.”

“I… I-I’m not really your brother.” Michael continued the stream of consciousness, a sudden wave of sadness filling the void that shock left. Hie eyes stung with tears that threatened to fall, the weight of losing his brother being too much to bear.

“Hey, look at me.” Scott snapped two fingers in front of Mike’s face until the other looked up at him, making sure they kept eye contact “Listen, Mike. I… I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s get one thing straight. I don’t care if you’re human or a robot or a werewolf or _whatever_, you will _always_ be my brother. Nothing’s ever going to change that. We still grew up together, I still know you, even if I don’t know the parts that make you up. But you’ll _always _be my twin, no matter what, got that?”

… God, what a cheesy dork. Mike couldn’t fight the smile that crept up on his face “Got it. I love you, Scottie.”

“I love you too, Mikey.” Unable to stand the distance, they pulled each other in for a tight hug, not daring to let the other go anytime soon.

Mike decided to break the serene silence of their hug first “… What do we do now?”

“I don’t know.” He answered, finally pulling away from their hug to grab some paper towels and wrap them around Mike’s hand, at least trying to stop the mechanical fluids from leaking any more. “What… _can_ we do? I mean… you’re a robot, which- I’m still having trouble processing. But we know that now. What do we even do with this information???”

“I don’t know…” Mike hummed “I mean… Father made me for a reason, right? I’m… he didn’t even want _me_ to know I wasn’t human, or else he would have told me about it. There’s gotta be some- some reason why he wanted to keep me a secret.”

“… Oh my God, what if he led us to believe that we were twins so that… so that no one would be suspicious that he just- randomly showed up with a robo-baby one day? I-I mean, if Mum was pregnant with me, then it was probably easy for Father to- to just build a robot in 9 months and when Mum gave birth just- just say ‘Oh wow it was twins!’… right?”

“Maybe? I don’t know… Ugh, why did he have to just- just disappear on us?! I swear, every time I try to get answers, I just get more questions!” He huffed, carding his good hand through his hair “I just- wish he were still here so he could answer our questions!!!”

Scott hummed a bit before responding “… Father worked side-by-side with Mr. Emily, do you think he would know anything about… you?”

“Scott, Mr. Emily killed himself, remember?”

He rolled his eyes “Yes, I’m not talking about asking Henry himself, but… Do you think Charlie would know anything?”

“Charlie? She still lives in Hurricane?” He hummed in surprise when his brother nodded “Well… I mean, we _could _ask her, but… does she know anything about this? I mean, if Father didn’t tell us about this, why would Charlie know anything?”

“Well we’ve got no other leads… but on one condition.” The blonde held his hand out, fingers curled into a fist, except for the pinky “Whatever we do from now on, we do as a team, got it?”

… Mike raised an eyebrow, unimpressed “Are you really making me pinky promise? How old are we?”

Scott pouted “Do you promise or not?”

He snorted, taking the promise with his own pinky “No more secrets. We’re a team from now on, I promise.”

“Alright, my cy-bro, we have a Charlie to catch!”

“… Cy-bro?”

“Oh, if you think I’m not going to take advantage of the puns our situation is giving me, you are sorely mistaken. I am going to make as many bad robot-related jokes as humanely possible~”

“Joooooy.”

* * *

Bonus art because I made fanart of this chapter before finishing writing this chapter XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EASILY my favorite chapter to write so far, I'm so happy we got to this part. As always, we can chat and make art and do all sorts of fun stuff with this AU over at https://official-michael-afton.tumblr.com/tagged/reincarnation-au


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